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18 September 2017

Postcards from Barcelona, part one

So before the Autumn well and truly sets in and the Summer is but a distant memory, I thought I would share a few photos from our holiday in Barcelona. I wrote a little about how much this city means to me on my instagram whilst we were there, just days before the terrorist attack happened.

Barcelona has been a part of my life for well over a decade, in fact I first visited in my early teens with school whilst on a hockey and netball tour. Later, before my sister moved there, we visited together getting to know friends of friends and discovering all that the city had to offer. It's so different being shown round by people who have lived there all their lives, I feel privileged that I've seen so much of it, been shown the secret places away from the tourist traps. We have of course done some of the touristy things, walked down La Rambla, been to the beaches, visited the Guadi buildings and parks and been to the many art museums. We've been to nightclubs, small bars, amazing resturants and local bars for tapas and so much more. We've discovered the cities best churros, orxata, claras, patatas bravas and so much more. I've eaten amazing home cooked meals, sat in friends kitchens and balconies smoking cigarettes and playing board games and not quite getting the jokes. I've visited with friends and we've danced to 90's music on New Years and ended up in the early hours with locals on the beach. We learnt of the death of one of our good friends whilst on the beach in the Summer, and spent the next day or so in a haze not knowing quite what to do, before quickly covering the whole of France to get back to the UK.

This city has been my haven after a break up, to come and find some space and clarity after finding out I was pregnant with Theo, then the place we took Theo on our first family holiday. We got engaged here, and without knowing it I was pregnant with Rohan here too.

This city has held so much, it's the home of my sister and I've seen her grow to belong here. We've discovered so much of it together, in those early days getting lost in the streets of Gracia or El Borne. We've been tourists and locals, explored the city with Theo by our side on me and him adventures. We've found flea markets, elusive vintage shops and great cafes. We've been taken out of the city to amazing places you would never know about. And yet still there is so much more to discover.

My sister recently moved to a new area of the city, high above the dense streets to a village. You wind your way up the hill to breathtaking views of city and the sea, and find yourself nestled on a hillside covered in green. We too discovered other new neighbourhoods like Sarria, and felt like tourists once more on a Summer holiday, walking around and snapping the buildings covered in plants.

So here are some photos from our wanderings which once again convince me that Barcelona will always have my heart.